Tuesday, 22 March 2016

ISIS is a terrorist state, not an Islamic one: Tahir-ul-Qadri

ISIS is a terrorist state, not an Islamic one: Tahir-ul-Qadri

The ideology of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIS) is that
of disbelief in Islam. It is anti-Islam and against the teachings of the
prophet of Islam and those of Quran, said Canadian-Pakistani cleric
Tahirul-Qadri in an exclusive interview with India Today Group Editorial
Director (Publishing) Raj Chengappa on Monday.

Qadri was in India
to participate in the recently concluded World Sufi Forum organised by
All India Ulema and Mashaikh Board (AIUMB), an apex body of Sunni
Muslims in India.

"The ISIS ideology is Kufr (disbelief in Islam).
It is anti-Islam; against the teachings of the prophet of Islam and
those of Quran," said Qadri, asserting that the ISIS was conducting a
'fasad' (spreading mischief) and there was no concept of jihad in their
"character, performance, behaviour or ideology".

"I say it is the
most heinous crime to declare themselves (ISIS) an Islamic state as they
have nothing to do with Islam. It is a terrorist state, an anti-human
state, an anti-religion and anti-faith state," the Sufi cleric told
India Today.
Contending the belief proffered by the ISIS that its
fighters go to heaven by sacrificing their lives for the organisation,
Qadri said loot, plunder and murder were not part of Islam.

"I
want to send the message that whatever they are doing is not jihad, but
'fasad'. The people dying there in the ISIS are not going to heaven;
they are going to hell because they are killing mankind, they are
killing the innocent, the civilians. Capturing land, killing people and
looting money is not Islamic ideology or any other religious ideology,"
Qadri said.

Qadri also took on Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind president
Maulana Arshad Madani who had criticised PM Modi, who attended the World
Sufi Forum, for dividing Muslims along sects and causing consternation
in the community. Madani had claimed that Sufism was not part of Islam
as it did not find any place in the Quran or the Hadith.

"The Narendra Modi
government is trying to divide the Muslims and create animosity within.
We are not opposed to them (Sufis), but they are part of the community.
This regime is raining fire on Muslims as a whole. While the government
is trying to play one section against the other, they failed as they
could gather just a few thousand in the event," Madani had lashed out.
"I
don't agree with this comment. Maulana Madani Sahab's elders were also
Sufis. So it would be a very strange thing to say that it has nothing to
do with the Holy Prophet and Islam," Qadri contended.

Qadri went
on to list past clerics of the Deoband school who were ardent "claimants
of Sufism". "Maulana Ahsraf Ali Thanvi was a practicing Sufi and he
followed the Chishtiya order. He was the student of Haji Mudadullah
Mohajir Madani. Maulana Kasim Nanowtwi, Maulana Rashid Ahmad Gangohi or
Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani were all claimants of Sufism. All other
great Ulama of Deoband were followers of the path of Sufism and they
belonged to the silsila chishtiya. Even today they practice Sufism,
making "murids" or students.
Deoband's official narrative was
never anti-Sufism. There were and are differences of interpretation of
certain things, aspects or ideas, but there was never a negation of
Sufism from the official narrative of Deoband. "This is a new thing that
I am hearing for the first time," he said. Responding to
Tahir-ul-Qadri's comments, Madani clarified his position. "We are all
Sufis, but what is this Sufiism. Being a Sufi is not a bad thing. Those
who are Muslims are also Sufis. We the people of Deoband are Sufis, but
in Islam there is nothing that is apart from and different from Prophet
Muhammad. Sufism is also the same: following his path is Sufism. Removed
from the Prophet, Sufism is nothing. Islam is not the name of Sufism,
Islam is the way to follow the path told by Prophet Muhammad. Sufism
does not find a place in Hadith or Quran. What is Sufism; we do not
accept anything apart from the Prophet neither will the world accept."
In
his speech at the event, Prime Minister Modi had stressed how Sufism
engaged with India's spiritual tradition and evolved its own ethos.